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Interactive Transparent Display – Coming to iPhone 5?

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Ok so there has been a lot of talk about the iPhone 5. One of the features that has been rumored is an “iclear retina display” (essentially an interactive glass phone). If you havent seen this video, check it out.

Props to Dakota Adney for making a sweet concept video. Apparently, he is 17 years old and clearly has some great editing skills.

 The youtube description states:

Clearly amazing. The quad-core A5 chip delivers even more power. The laser projection keyboard liberates your thumbs. The new iClear Retina display presents sharp graphics and stunning images.

 

iOS 6 will take your iPhone experience in an entirely new direction. And if there’s anything else you need, just ask Siri.

 

Wait! Dont get too excited. Lets back up a little. Is this interactive transparent display possible and how likely are we to see the “iclear retina display” in the iPhone 5?

 At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung’s Transparent Window got a lot of attention (and for good reason).  Not to mention, the Smart Window won the Innovation Award of CES-2012. Check it out below. It is amazing!

To add some perspective, The Transparent Smart Window will not be available until the end of 2012 (if all goes to plan). Never the less, interactive transparent display has been proven possible. Woop Woop!
Samsung and Apple are at war with each other. Patents are not the only thing they are battling over. Jordan Crook, from TechCrunch reports Apple and Samsung “combined, took home 55 percent of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2012. More importantly, they’re walking away with 90 percent of the market’s profits.” You better believe both companies are looking to take their mobile products to the next level. Samsung is developing interactive transparent display devices, I’m positive Apple is too.

The closest “iclear retina display” mobile device seen is still a prototype.  It was developed by Japanese wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo and Fujitsu. Below they show off a transparent dual-sided OLED touch screen smartphone prototype device at the 2012 Wireless Japan expo.

Its cool… but not as cool as Adneys’ “iclear retina display” in the iPhone 5. The NTT DoCoMo and Fujitsu prototype is pretty amazing though – an impressive feat, to say the least. History also shows us that in 2010 Sony took a shot at the mobile transparent display with their Xperia Pureness… and lets just say it didn’t take off.

Looking at the current state of mobile interactive transparent display devices and taking into consideration Apples OCD for perfection (there is nothing wrong with that) it is unlikely we will see the “iclear retina display” in the iPhone 5 coming out this fall… In the foreseeable future, most definitely.

Dont be disappointed. The future looks bright, take a look at the Samsung video below.

A flexible mobile device is the most likely feature to hit mass production this year. The interactive transparent display still needs improvement before we see Apple build it into its iPhone. As for the 3D holograms you saw, thats many years off…